Your Pregnancy Week 22

You

Your uterus is now about 2cm above your bellybutton and your enlarging abdomen is not too large and doesn't get in your way much. You're still able to bend over and to sit comfortably. Walking shouldn't be an effort. Morning sicknesss has probably passed, although some women suffer chronic morning sickness their entire pregnancy, which is called hyperemesis gravidarum.

Are you having short periods of light-headedness? Maybe even feeling a little dizzy when you stand up? These are very common symptoms during a pregnancy. When you move positions, for instance if you stand up quickly after sitting for a long period, you may be light headed. This is because so much of your blood is centered around your uterus and with your growing size, it may not be able to move through your system as quickly as it used to. To prevent this from happening make sure you change positions slowly. You can also sit with your legs propped up to help with circulation, so that when you do stand up, your circulation has a head start.

Iron-deficiency anemia is common during pregnancy. During pregnancy, your baby uses some of the iron stores you have in your body. If you have iron-deficiency anemia, your body doesn't have enough iron left to make red blood cells because the baby has used some of your iron for its own blood cells.

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Your hair may feel a lot thicker than it used to because you shed less hair during pregnancy. To get rid of unwanted hair, you can safely tweeze, wax, and shave, but bleaches or depilatories are not suitable because they can be absorbed into the skin and contain chemicals.

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Your baby

Baby is 27.8cm long and weighs 430 grams. During this week, your baby's skin will make the transformation from
being translucent to opaque. No longer will you be able to see everything underneath all of that skin. It will
become cloudy, but remain red. The skin will appear red until the fat, which is white, builds under the skin layers.
Then the skin will turn from red to pink, and then to a very light pink or white if they are Caucasian. The skin will
be very wrinkly under the thick coating of vernix, until the
fat fills it out and pushes the wrinkles out.